Senate candidate Fetterman suffers stroke
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman had to make an unscheduled stop to a hospital on Friday.
Fetterman was treated at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital after suffering a stroke, according to multiple announcements made by himself, his wife and his campaign.
In a Facebook post, a video shows the 52-year-old sitting in a Lancaster hospital room alongside his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman.
“As you can see we hit a little bump on the campaign trail,” Gisele Barreto Fetterman said.
Fetterman said he wasn’t feeling well Friday, and after encouragement from his wife, he sought medical treatment.
“I hadn't been feeling well, but was so focused on the campaign that I ignored the signs and just kept going,” said Fetterman in a news release. “On Friday it finally caught up with me.”
Fetterman said his stroke was caused by a clot from his heart that had been in atrial fibrillation, an irregular and rapid heart rhythm, for too long. Fetterman said a team of doctors removed the clot, which reversed his stroke and improved the overall health of his heart.
“The good news is I’m feeling much better, and the doctors tell me I didn’t suffer any cognitive damage,” Fetterman said. “I’m well on my way to a full recovery. So I have a lot to be thankful for.”
In the release, Fetterman said his doctors were keeping him for further observation as a precaution, but he is believed to be going back on the campaign trail again “soon.“
“Our campaign isn’t slowing down one bit, and we are still on track to win this primary on Tuesday and flip this Senate seat in November," he said. "Thanks for all the support, and please get out there and vote.”
In the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat, Fetterman is running against U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Alex Khalil.
The winner of the Democratic primary would square off against one of the Republican candidates — Dr. Mehmet Oz, David McCormick, Kathy Barnette, Carla Sands and Jeff Bartos.
Lamb tweeted that he was conducting a television interview when he learned of Fetterman’s stroke.
“Hayley and I are keeping John and his family in our prayers and wishing him a full and speedy recovery,” Lamb wrote.
Kenyatta called Fetterman “an incredible family man.” “My prayers are with him and his family as he recovers from this stroke,” he tweeted. “I look forward to seeing him back on the campaign trail soon."
And on the Republican side, Oz noted that he has experience treating Fetterman's condition.
“I have cared for atrial fibrillation patients and witnessed the miracles of modern medicine in the treatment of strokes, so I am thankful that you received care so quickly,” Oz tweeted. “My whole family is praying for your speedy recovery.”
Fetterman's heart condition, atrial fibrillation, occurs when the heart’s top chambers, called the atria, get out of sync with the pumping action of the bottom chambers. Sometimes patients feel a flutter or a racing heart, but many times they’re not aware of an episode.
A-fib is most common in older adults, and other risks include high blood pressure or a family history of arrhythmias. It causes 130,000 deaths and 750,000 hospitalizations a year in the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
